Video disc player apparatus are known of the type having a hinged cover adapted to be opened and closed to permit a video disc to be inserted and placed on a rotary drive for the video disc or removal therefrom. The cover is provided for protection, while the disc is rotated at high speed, and the cover may be locked against opening by a mechanism for as long as the disc is rotated. In addition to protection, the cover is also useful to prevent the penetration of dust when the apparatus is in the non-operational position.
In such video disc player apparatus where the device which carries out reading of the information carried by the disc operates only on one side of the disc, it is necessary to turn the disc over manually in order to read information from its other side.
Although manual turning over a record is acceptable in the case of audio apparatus (i.e., record players) handling of video discs raises several serious drawbacks. When a video disc is handled, the surface becomes contaminated by human perspiration and dirt which sticks due to the presence of the perspiration and such contamination interferes with the reading process. The surface of video discs is more susceptible to damage than conventional records. It also appears that the attention of a viewer of a video screen becomes very rapt and the interruption required to manually turn over a disc is very objectionable. As turning over the disc requires the viewer to open the cover, turn the disc, close the cover and restart the apparatus, and as this sequence of operations takes time, it may be readily understood that video players having provision for manually turning over discs have only had very limited success with the public.
Devices for automatically turning over a disc are known which include a mechanism for grasping the disc by the opposite circumferential edges and revolving the disc in space to turn it over. Another type of mechanism is known which has an annular pan for grasping a disc, lifting it from a turntable and, in cooperation with a reversing member, turning the disc over and returning it to the turntable.
These known devices are complex in construction and involve large extraneous members to grasp the disc and turn it over. Video disc players which have a protective cover provide more limited space beneath the cover than is required by these known devices for turning over discs, which heretofore have been applied to conventional record players having no severe space limitations.